Dear friends,
It’s good to be back among you following our fortnight’s break in Cornwall and Devon. We last spent a holiday in the West Country in 2013 just before moving to Ipswich and it is twenty-six years since we spent a holiday in the Bude area and I had forgotten just how beautiful this part of our British coastline is, God was certainly on top form when he gifted us such a wonderful place to visit. I have decided that Karen and I must be mad taking up camping at sixty-three and fifty-nine, most folk have at this point moved through the process of Camping, then caravanning, then maybe moved on to a motorhome and even hotels, we are clearly nonconformists! That said, we have just had the most relaxing fortnight I can ever remember, and even though we have lived on a slope for a fortnight, I haven’t slept so well in months.
The slope was a bit of an issue for us. Having got up in the wee small hours of the morning and driven three hundred and fifty miles, negotiating the incredibly busy M25 at six in the morning, we were tired. To make matters worse, the temperature was sitting around the top twenties and the sun beat down upon us as we started to build our home for the fortnight. Thus far on our trips away with the tent, we have been on flat surfaces and even the early “put the tent up in private, rather than making fools of ourselves” sessions on Bramford Roads field were on the level. We made the mistake of erecting the front of the tent, facing downhill to take advantage of the views, without giving any thought to the effects of gravity and just as we were making great progress and impressing our neighbours who were sitting out sunning themselves, entertained now by the wrinklies erecting a tent during the hottest part of the day, the whole thing collapsed.
Pulling the whole tent back up against the gradient took every bit of energy I had left in store and to be honest it felt more like I was dragging Billy Smart’s Big top up hill rather than a six-berth tent, and I was quite unsteady on my feet, when the young couple opposite offered to help. I was just about to say “no thanks we’re fine” in the way blokes do, seeing our manhood diminish as we accept help, but Karen got in before me and in no time at all Jack, a builder from Bristol single handedly erected our tent while his delightful young partner, stood chatting with Karen and I. Even young Jack, late twenties at the oldest, a fine figure of a man, in much better shape than me, wearing only a pair of shorts, was dripping with sweat when he had completed our task and had to go and shower, I will always be grateful to this young couple for their kindness.
Two quick lessons learned:
- A couple of minutes of preparation before embarking on a task, noting the lay of the land (very important in our case) the challenges that might threaten our success is time well spent.
- Never be too proud to accept help if you are beaten.
As I look at the community around me, recovering from the whole pandemic experience and now facing a cost-of-living crisis, my guess is that there will be thousands of people across the country who will find themselves struggling and only ask for help when their backs are against the wall. There should be no stigma to this whatsoever, most people’s budgets will be stretched to the limits when suddenly hit by the sudden rise in energy, and food prices, if you are struggling, please ask for help, no matter who you are.
If you are one of the “Jacks” in this world, who can lend a hand to somebody else who is struggling, please don’t hesitate, our faith is based on helping our brothers and sisters in their time of need. I don’t think that the young couple from Bristol helped us because they were Christian, they simply saw someone struggling and helped and it did my heart good.
May God bless you in all you do.
Derek